Recap: Cavs: Awesome, Knicks: Amare (Also, how I failed at podcasting about tanking)

Quick note – someone has been commenting as me (Mallory) in the comment sections. From now forward I will log into the blog, so I’ll have an official stamp – basically, you’ll know it’s me. That’s all about that...

What an awesome win, although the Knicks were clearly willing to sacrifice this one in favor of trying to get Amare back into the mix. I’ll be honest with you all and admit I didn’t watch this one closely – John, Ryan and I were recording a podcast. Unfortunately my computer had a meltdown and the podcast seems to have disappeared. Go figure.

Basically, as far as I can tell (and from what I watched):

The Good:

Kyrie – he clearly returned to form. I saw him make some of his patented fancy moves and did a great job getting to the rim. He shot atrociously from the 3, but who cares – he’s back, that’s all that matters.

Manny Harris – REALLY DUDE? TWELVE REBOUNDS?!?!?! ALL ON D?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Not only that, but the guy shot 6-12 and hit 3 3-pointers, including an absolute BOMB from almost the half court as time expired (true story – Ryan and I were talking after the podcast was recorded and I literally screamed “ARE YOU EFFING SERIOUS.” It was that jaw dropping. I could get used to this…)

Samardo – I’m chalking this up to the fact that Amare is really, really rusty. Also, Jorts played for 5 minutes so that’s gotta come into play, right?

The Bad:

Melo – I know he’s not a Cav, but since it’s almost definite the Knicks are going to face the Heat (at least it’s almost definite in my head, where I see them winning, so yeah…) I figured it’d be nice to see what was up with the Knicks’ star. He was 5-13, meaning Casspi, AP, etc. must’ve played some damn fine D.

Jamison – Yuck. Just…yuck. But can you blame the guy? He’s collecting massive paychecks for a crappy NBA team. The man has no incentive left.

The Rest:

Sorry for such an informal (and silly) recap – I was glancing on and off while recording the podcast and had hoped to have it up tonight to go along with a short recap, but lo and behold it’s gone.

So just to give you a quick summary. John, Ryan and I were discussing the merits of tanking, how they affect the psyche of the fan, whether or not tanking in the NBA is a real issue or not, and what all this tanking means for the future.

If you’d like to discuss in the comments section, I’ll do my best to lead this discussion as I did during our podcast.

Keep an eye out for an end of season podcast next week. Until then…!

16 Responses to “Recap: Cavs: Awesome, Knicks: Amare (Also, how I failed at podcasting about tanking)”

I hate tanking, and I hope this is the last year we have to do it for a while, but even if I dislike it, it is important for a team like the Cavaliers because it is the only way the team can have a high chance of landing a superstar.

To blend the podcast with the game: I love good Kyrie is and I love watching the team play well, but that said… We’ve come this far (we’ve done the losing we needed to do) and I don’t really know the best way to handle these next four games.

We are currently the fifth-worst team in the league with an 8.8% chance of landing Anthony Davis, and we’ll pick no worse than eighth (My opinion: Top-5 and we’re alright.).

Had we lost out, we probably would have been the third-worst team in the league with a 15.6% chance of landing Anthony Davis and picked no worst than sixth.

I’d be/have been okay with either of those scenarios. That’s pretty solid.

Now here’s the scary part. If we win two more games, there’s a legitimate chance we end up as the ninth-worst team in the league (there’s a cluster-f of teams with 22 wins — one more than us…) which would give us a 1.7% chance of landing Anthony Davis…and assure that we’d pick no lower than 11th.

I honestly have no idea how best to handle this…

We need to get lucky regardless, but that’s a hell of a blow to our odds for just a win or two more.

The lottery system suckshttp://www.goldenstateofmind.com/
pictures of tanks everywhere… in Germany, teams get relegated to D-League if they are too bad.
I mean, America is always scared of socialism – but that is somehow the most socialist thing I can imagine, isn’t it?

Why did we have to start winning now? Still, I can’t see us winning more than 1 game to close the season. @San Antonio, @Memphis, and @Chicago, with a home against Washington would most likely give us a 1-3 finish and 22-44 record overall.

Compare that to Toronto, which ends with games @Detroit, @Milwaukee, and vs.NJ. They could easily get 1 win and finish with a better record than us.

If we lose out, we could end in a tie with Sacramento, which has an almost guaranteed win @Charlotte before being massacred @OKC and vsLakers.

Even New Orleans COULD squeak out 2 wins with a finish @Clips, @Warriors, and @Houston.

The Nets also finish up @Milwaukee, vs Philly, and @Toronto, making a win possible.

I think as long as we have a pick in the top 6, we’ll get a great player.

I read every post that generally comes up in this blog but rarely comment. This “tanking” talk over the last month or more has finally gotten to me.

Not once this season have I felt the Cavs have been in tank mode. And I fail to understand why its been a constant source of discussion on this (and other) Cavs stories. Last nights game should prove it if it hadn’t already. They don’t win that game without Kyrie. They don’t have Kyrie in there if they are in tank mode.

Prior to the game, I had no idea Kyrie was going to play but I looked at the NBA standings and I thought to myself, w/o Kyrie and Andy the rest of the season, the Cavs could realistically get the 3rd worst record. Now with just Kyrie back, being one of the 5-6 worst teams before end of season is in jeopardy. Yes, I do want them to tank and try to get the best possible draft pick for next year but thru 62 games, not one thing has happened this year that has even remotely given me pause to think the Cavs as an organization are tanking.

They were quite competitive and fun to watch early with their full roster. Then Andy got hurt but Kyrie basically on his own kept them going. Then he hurt his shoulder and we saw what our roster really was. Then all this tank conversation really got rolling. But I failed to see what people wanted the Cavs to do to change that. Byron Scott kept putting in a lineup to win – he obviously wasn’t starting the 11-15th players on the team and giving them 35 minutes. I kept seeing people say, play Ramon more, play that Hudson guy, play so and so more over Jamison and PArker to see what we have and in the next breath, they’d complain about tanking. Well, wouldn’t playing a full squad of non-veterans and D Leaguers be more “tank mode” than sticking w/ Vets and trying to stay competitive. But lets be real, with the roster we currently have and are trying to build up, once you fall behind by double digits and then more, no one is really going all out anymore at that point in the game. Thats not tanking, its just realisitic and getting by with what you have. Especially when Kyrie wasn’t in there to lead and push. The players see the same thing we see.

The other argument was at the trade deadline with Ramon. Seriously, people? Keeping him as a backup for another 20-30 games would mean the Cavs were trying and not tanking. Get what you can for a guy when you can get it. You think the Magic aren’t kicking themselves for not trading Dwight now? If they would’ve traded him, that still wouldn’t mean they were going into tank mode the rest of the year – they would have been trying to get the most they could for a player who didn’t want to be there. If the Cavs knew 2 years ago what they know now, wouldn’t you rather they traded The Whore of Akron and got a bounty for him then if they could?

In fact, on the subject of tanking, I’d go so far as to say that I saw more tanking from him in that last playoff series against Boston than I’ve seen from the Cavs in either of the 2 years since.

I totally agree. Golden State’s end of season tanking is probably the worst of any team. They were 18-21 around midpoint, and when they realized the playoffs were out of reach, they have since gone 4-19…. AND they openly admitted that they were trying to get their first round pick back (which they do if it lands in the top 7).

I think Barnes with Kyrie feeding him could be just as potent as a beal and Irving backcourt. He did struggle, but their offense changed dramatically with Marshall out. Kyrie will help his potential skyrocket. I think the interviews, as last year, will e a huge part of it for Chris grant and co

Funny how the Cavs doesn’t listen to their fans and just lose. Instead they continue to look for ways to win. Very interesting!! I guess they really do strive for success instead of intentionally seeking the illusion of success through constant failure.

I completely understand the concept of the team not tanking (they are professionals, get paid and should play for self respect) but as a fan I do not want the team to win anymore games and once the playoffs are out of reach the season should be seen as a glimpse into the future and they should want the future to be as bright as possible. Bottom line every team wants a good draft pick so why not tank once the playoffs are out of reach to give yourself the best chance of improving the team

I think as long as we lose out, or win only one of our remaining four games (at this point), we will get the player we need. Like most people I am enamored with the very real possibility of drafting Brad Beal, but knowing that Doron Lamb may be available for the second pick makes me think we need to address the SF or C issue first. Barnes’ size and length is perfect and I am kinda sick of seeing our undersized team run out every night.

The main drawback’s I have heard for Barnes is that he is overly conscious of his “brand” as a player and that he struggled in the tournament after Marshall was out. I think Irving playing with him and him being a rookie with less of the public eye will help him a lot.

In a way I can’t wait for the end of may when we know which pick we get so I can start paying attention to the real possibilities and interview/workout reactions.

The Lineup: (Click for Author’s Archive)

Nate Smith is an Associate Editor. He grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and moved to NE Ohio in 2000. He adopted the Cavs in 2003 and graduated from Kent State in 2009 with a BA in English. He can be contacted at oldseaminer@gmail.com or @oldseaminer on Twitter.

Tom Pestak is an Associate Editor. He's from the west side of Cleveland and lives and (mostly) dies by the success and (mostly) failures of his beloved teams. You can watch his fanaticism during Cavs games @tompestak.

Robert Attenweiler is a Staff Writer. Originally from OH, he's long made his home in NYC where he writes plays and screenplays (www.disgracedproductions.com) some of which end up being about Ohio, basketball or both. He has also written for The Classical and the blog Raising the Cadavalier. You can contact him at rattenweiler@gmail.com or @cadavalier.

Benjamin Werth is a Staff Writer. He was born in Cleveland and raised in Mentor, OH. He now lives in Germany where he is an opera singer and actor. He can be reached at blfwerth@gmail.com.

Cory Hughey is a Staff Writer. He grew up in Youngstown, the Gary, Indiana of Ohio. He graduated from Youngstown State in 2008 with a worthless telecommunications degree. He can be contacted at theleperfromwatts@yahoo.com or @coryhughey on Twitter.

David Wood is our Links Editor. He is a 2012 Graduate of Syracuse University with an English degree who loves bikes, beer, basketball, writing, and Rimbaud. He can be reached on Twitter: @nothingwood.

Mallory Factor is the voice of Cavs: The Podcast. By day Mallory works in fundraising and by night he runs a music business company. To see his music endeavors check out www.fivetracks.com. Hit him up at Malloryfactorii@gmail.com or @Malfii.

John Krolik is the Editor Emeritus of Cavs: The Blog. At present, he is pursuing a law degree at Tulane University. You can contact him at johnkrolik@gmail.com or @johnkrolik.

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